By sundown you managed to tidy up most of the infirmary. Cobwebs were dusted down, the floors swept and mopped, the moth-eaten curtains between beds replaced. The water siphon had taken several trips to the well outside for fresh water and many pumps of the rusted lever before you eventually got clean water to come out.

You scrubbed the main surgery table several times over but you just could not get the stains out. You briefly wondered if Levi knew of any tricks to get blood out of wood. You placed a clean sheet over it for the time being.

You flitted about, tackling area after area. Once everything was in a state you deemed acceptable, you set about the issue of inventory. Among restocking medical supplies, you wanted to start back up the antibiotic experiments you had been running with Helfen. You weren 't about to laze about waiting for the injured and sick. You would make productive use of your time and continue the other work you had left behind in Sina.

Going through the massive wall of various medicines is what took up most of your time. Half of them were unusable, you discovered to your immense disappointment. You managed to quickly fill two crates full of vials, jars, and tins that contained materials that had either clearly expired ages ago or were just plain useless to you. Based on some of the more stranger materials you had thrown away, this infirmary 's supplies hadn 't even been touched by the scouts when they had flipped it all those years ago.

You were currently making your way down one of the lower shelves. You picked up the next jar in line. You read the label aloud.

'Hanged Man 's Grease? '

God you hoped that was metaphorical.

You untwisted the lid and peered cautiously inside. You scooped a small amount onto the tips of your fingers and spread it around with your thumb. The texture was smooth and jelly-like, the color an off-putting beige. You wiped your hand off on your apron and placed the jar into the crate with the others. Not worth the chance.

Down the line you continued.

Once you finished with the shelves, only a quarter of what was there before remained. Combined with the small stock of supplies you had brought with you from Sina, you realized you really didn 't have much to work with considering the wide possibility of cases you could face in the coming days. You suddenly wished for Dr. Helfen 's healthy stock of medical supplies back home.

Most of Helfen 's inventory had been sponsored by the rich of Sina. With the fall of Maria, however, such sponsorships became scarcer as pockets were emptied for other resources. Despite medical supplies reaching their highest demand in years, priority was instead placed on food and the military. Helfen merely received whatever scraps of the interior 's budget was left. As such, your mentor became quite selective in the supplies he used on his patients while still trying to provide the best care possible for them. He frequently would reiterate to you the importance of being economical in these times.

'Don 't use the iodine when distilled alcohol could do just as well of a job in this case, ' he would lecture.

Or,

'Willow bark or whisky for low priority wounds. Local anesthetic for severe wounds. Narcotics for life-threatening surgeries. '

Or,

'Antibiotic injections are only to be administered for those who are at high risk for developing sepsis. '

Your rarer supplies, and thus your most expensive, would go almost entirely to the Survey Corps. Anesthetic and narcotic pain control drugs were not easy to manufacture and yet nearly every case referred to you from the Scouts needed either one of the two. Of course, the military never compensated the practice for the free work done for their soldiers, despite Dr. Helfen 's inquiries.

It wasn 't reimbursement of the labor performed that Dr. Helfen asked for - that wasn 't the issue. You and Dr. Helfen would always happily doctor their wounded for free. No, the issue was inventory. If you and Dr. Helfen were to

continue

doctoring for free, then you could not afford to keep up the restocking of supplies from your own pockets. Money would quickly run dry and then you would have nothing to help their wounded with. Your bare hands could only do so much.

And yet each of his requests for fair compensation was rejected.

With each returning expedition from the Scouts, however, it seemed people were suddenly able to find

some

coin deep in their lint-filled pockets to throw at the practice. It seemed they didn 't like looking at the parade of bloodied and crippled each month, and so the upper-class would unburden any guilt they felt by tossing a coin or two your way. It wasn 't much, but at least then you were able to replenish your sucked-dry supplies and keep open for another day. Just barely.

You sighed. If an established practice struggled to keep up with inventory, how were you to do so here?

A sliver of hope opened in you.

Perhaps being in the military 's direct employ would work favorably for you, should you put in a request for certain supplies. After all, their new field surgeon is going to need a proper stock should they actually want you to make a difference.

You decided you needed to write down that list for Eld next.

And so you tackled the alcove 's desk, searching for a blank piece of paper and a pen. You rummaged through its drawers and tossed anything useless or illegible. It was then you came across a thick ledger, its pages yellowed and stiffened over the years. Leaning against the desk, you flipped through it. Various stains of blood and who knew what other fluids splattered randomly throughout.

You stopped on a random entry, the date smudged.

Sadao from town came with his young ward with the complaint that she continuously suffers from random hysterical fits. I asked when the last of her courses were. The ward had answered less than a fortnight. It had seemed that her natural bloodletting was no longer efficient enough to cleanse the bad humors that built up and ailed her. Sadao spoke of his ward hitting her own head when she came into these fits, suggesting to me that this was where the build up of spoiled humors lay. I right away knew that trepanning would fix what ailed this poor girl. I shaved her hair and drilled four holes on the top of her skull, letting out the blood that contained her ailment. As the humors were released, another one of her fits came about. It seemed as though the bloodletting was not occurring fast enough. As such, I quickly drilled an additional two holes. As I was cranking the drill for the fourth hole, she thrashed about most horribly. The drill punctured too far through the skull and entered her brain. Her fit immediately ceased, nor did another one occur. The trepanning was a success. I have noted the area I punctured in the diagram below. I will remember this location should another arrive with similar symptoms.

- - -

Sadao returned today. He bore the news that his ward died overnight. Most unfortunate.

'Stupid codger, ' you mumbled under your breath, flipping the page. How lucky you were to have stumbled across Dr. Helfen and not this horrifying physician.

'Interesting read? ' said a voice from the doorway. You glanced up to see Eld standing there.

You returned your attention to the ledger.

'I suppose you could describe it as that, ' you replied. You scanned a page detailing how fresh urine was prescribed to a patient complaining of a tender throat. He instructed the poor bastard to gargle it thrice daily in order to relieve himself of the pain and to make the swelling cease. You wrinkled your nose.

This would make for a great read for the captain should he ever get on your nerves.

Eld strolled over to crates that sat by the shelves. He picked up a jar at random and opened it.

'What is dirt supposed to help with? ' he asked as he curiously looked inside.

You glanced up again from the book. 'Not dirt. Ground human skull, ' you said flatly.

Eld cringed and quickly screwed the lid back on. He carefully put it back into the crate. He read the label of the jar laying beside it, its contents dark and thick. ' 'Poor Sinner 's Blood.' Did they really use these? '

'Apparently so, ' you answered. You lifted the book in hand. 'They also would put metal picks through your eye should you suffer from sleeplessness. That is if various amounts of poison didn 't knock you out first. '

Eld cringed again. 'You don 't do any of that, right? '

You smiled. 'No. These techniques are very outdated. Before even my mentor 's lifetime. '

He nodded and let out a breath as if relieved. 'Good. ' He turned and surveyed the now clean infirmary. 'You got quite a bit done tonight. '

'I 'm eager to return to work, ' you replied, closing the ledger and placing it back onto the desk.

Eld lifted a brow. 'That would require people here to get sick or injured. You 're eager for such? '

You gave him a look. 'You know what I mean. '

He gave you a soft smile, one you were surprised to see. From the little interaction you 've had with him, he was always so serious, especially when in front of the others. To see this side of him, so soon no less, caught you slightly off guard.

He rocked back onto his heels, glancing around. 'Anything that I can help you with? It 's a big space, surely there 's more that needs to be done. '

You gestured towards the two crates filled with the discarded supplies. 'Know of a good place we can dispose of those? '

'No, but I 'm sure I can find one, ' he said, lifting one of them into his arms. He left without another word. While he took care of that, you remembered your task before you had gotten distracted by that surgeon 's ledger. You ripped out a blank page from the back of the book and grabbed a pen whose ink took multiple tries before it finally flowed.

You wrote down your list.

When Eld returned to take the other crate away, you extended the paper out to him.

'Captain Levi told me you were in charge of taking care of the supplies here, ' you said.

'This is quite the list, ' he commented as he scanned the paper. 'I 'll see what I can do. But I can 't guarantee everything on here. Some of these are scarce as it is. '

'Understandable, ' you said. 'Whatever I can get, I will be grateful for. '

Eld folded and slipped the paper into his jacket 's front pocket. He leaned over and picked up the second crate of tossed supplies just as Petra appeared in the doorway.

'Ah, there you two are! ' she said pleasantly. 'I 've come to fetch you. We 're taking a break. Levi managed to find some tea in the kitchens. We 're just sitting down for it now. '

You politely declined, citing too much to do. Which was true. You had a long mental to-do list, and the sooner you finished setting up this infirmary, the sooner you could begin your real work. Petra and Eld understood and left you be.

Until you were able to get some of the things on that list, all you could do in the meantime was rummage and collect whatever you could in this decrepit castle. You remembered there being mentioned an overgrown garden somewhere on the premises earlier. You wondered if there was anything salvageable in there you could use to help replenish some of your pitiful stock. You glanced out one of the narrow windows set against the back wall.

It was becoming too dark for you to try and go out now, so exploring the garden would have to wait until daylight.

Hands on your hips, you scanned the shelves of what you had left, calculating what you needed and what you could use in this castle to supply it. What was something you were going to need the most of?

Bandages.

You definitely needed more bandages.

You suspected there would be plenty of unused sheets and cloth scattered throughout the many bedrooms. You could then fashion them into usable bandaging. You would also need to find a pair of shears so you could cut them into even strips before boiling them for sterility.

With your plan formed, you set off in search of what you needed.

Four flights of stairs, ten bedrooms, six linen closets, and one pair of shears found later, you returned to the infirmary and dumped your supplies onto the large table that had been bolted to the floor.

You had yet to sweep out the hearth and collect wood, so you decided you would go about sterilizing the strips tomorrow once you were able to get a fire kindled. Until then you would work on getting even, one-inch strips cut.

You picked up the shears and got busy.

Your mind drifted as your hands mindlessly worked. You thought of all that happened these last few days. How quickly everything was changing, how different your life was already becoming. Had Erwin and Levi not shown up at Helfen 's you would have been there now, closing up the practice for the night, perhaps sitting down to supper with him. You would be discussing the day 's cases or maybe the next steps of your research.

You felt a pang of sadness. Was Dr. Helfen eating alone now? You hoped he was managing okay by himself. You reminded yourself that he would be fine, that your mentor had managed by himself for many years before you. But he had been much younger then also, and he hadn 't been slowing down like he was now.

You hoped he wasn 't overworking himself. You hoped-

'What are you doing? ' Levi said from behind you.

You jumped in surprise, the edge of one of the shears ' blades nicking the hand that held the sheet you were cutting.

'You scared the shit out of me, ' you scolded, hurriedly taking the edge of the sheet and pressing it to your cut. 'If you must know, I 'm making bandages. You scouts tend to go through them like tissue paper. '

Levi entered and watched as you wrapped your bloodied hand with one of the strips you had cut. 'Good thing that 's what you were making, ' he commented lamely. You glared at him.

He stopped and looked around, clearly taking in the cleaning you accomplished today. He said nothing.

'How was tea? ' you asked, just to have something fill the silence as you finished wrapping your hand.

'Hange arrived early, ' he said as if that explained everything. You watched as he continued his rounds throughout the infirmary.

You huffed. 'Does it meet your absurdly high standards? '

'It 's better than the parlor room, ' was all he replied.

You shook your head in disbelief as you picked your shears back up and continued with your task of cutting inch-wide strips. Levi stopped nearby and leaned against the wall, propping his foot up and crossing his arms. He watched you intently.

Self-consciousness crept up the back of your neck. You paused your cutting. 'Is there something I can help you with tonight, Captain? ' you asked, raising a brow at him.

'You 're not going to set up those foul experiments in here too, are you? ' he said.

You glanced down towards the box beside you on the floor that contained some of the supplies you needed to start back up said experiments. You pushed the box further behind the table with your foot. ' 'No. '

He looked away, observing whatever was happening outside through one of the narrow windows. 'Tch. You 're almost as bad as Hange. '

'I 'll take that as a compliment, ' you said, resuming your work.

Silence once again settled heavily onto the room. The only sound was your shears tearing through fabric. You wished he would say something more. Frustration began weaving its way into you. Trying to have an ongoing conversation with this man was like pulling teeth. There had to be

something

he liked to talk about.

As you added another strip to your small pile of makeshift bandaging, you suddenly recalled the conversation that had occurred between those two women in the courtroom. You decided they weren 't all that far off with their assessment of him, after all.

However, it wasn 't his appearance that would be off-putting to any prospective partner of his, you thought to yourself. No, if anything, it was going to be his complete lack of social finesse. The man hardly talked. And when he did, nothing pleasant ever came out. It was insufferable.

With his focus still on the window, you took the opportunity to discreetly observe him as you sheared through another sheet.

He may have been physically small, but the air around him was charged differently. You had difficulty describing it. It was as if he took all the surrounding space for himself as compensation, making himself larger in the process. You scanned the sharp profile of his face and it reminded you of the other comment that woman had made in the courtroom. Your eyes dipped down to his mouth.

He glanced over at you from the corner of his eye. You hurriedly returned your focus to the job before you. You began cutting at double speed.

'How long did you work with that doctor? ' he asked.

Relief flooded you. He didn 't notice.

Good.

The relief didn 't last long, though, as wariness quickly replaced it. You questioned his motivation for asking you such a question.

You then remembered the assurance you had made to Eld, and then to him. Compliance for protection. You owed the captain at least some honesty. Answering would make good on your earlier promise to comply, and it would demonstrate that you were in fact willing to work with him.

'Many years, ' you answered. 'He took me in when I was young. As soon as I came of age, I went to school for medicine. During that time, I would occasionally work with him whenever he guest lectured or demonstrated surgery at university. Once I graduated, I returned to his practice immediately. It was the same year Wall Maria was breached. I worked beside him every day since. '

'What you learned in Mitras, does that only apply to humans? ' Levi said.

'Are you asking if we learned Titan medicine, Captain? ' you retorted, regaled.

He waited for a real answer from you. You realized he was being serious.

You gave him an amused look. 'No, I did not learn how to stitch up Titan skin or pull a bad tooth should they have one. Not my department of study. '

'Was it a department of study? '

'Oh, for certain, ' you replied. 'Only problem is that it was all theoretical, so their progress was always reliably slow. It was an area more for the thinkers rather than the doers. You can 't easily transport a Titan into Mitras from outside the Walls for them to study, can you? Nor would they be able to join you scouts on an expedition to claim one; too dangerous. No, they spent their time pouring over books and writing hypothesis after hypothesis. 'We 're so close to a breakthrough! ' they would say. Problem was that they were always close to a breakthrough. They never actually got anywhere significant - at least while I was there. ' You sniffed, thinking back on your time there. 'I wonder if they 've managed to make some progress since I last visited, considering all that 's happened these last few years. '

'Were you ever interested in what they studied? ' he said, pulling you from your thoughts.

So

this

is what it took to get this man to have a conversation? An interrogation? Of course it would be. You hardly could complain: beggars can 't be choosers, after all.

You shrugged. 'I suppose. No more than the average person. I cared more about people rather than the Titans. Still do. Although this Eren of yours does pique my interest quite a bit, likely others too. Hange won 't be the only one having a field day with him. '

'So Eren is the first you 've heard of a human having this ability? '

You looked at him warily. 'You picking up where Oluo left off? What are you implying? '

'I 'm just seeing what you know, ' he said smoothly, his face neutral.

You sighed. 'Yes, he is the first. Why, do you think there are others? '

Levi didn 't answer. He just continued to look at you with that quiet intensity that caused heat to travel up your neck. 'Did Arthur Helfen have any unusual interests outside of treating humans? '

'Let 's see. ' You ticked them off on each finger as you listed. 'He loved puzzles, was surprisingly knowledgeable about bugs, and he had this strange obsession with paddleball despite never having played it.

Levi blinked at you, unamused.

'I know what you 're getting at, Captain, ' you said to him, a smirk playing on your lips. 'The experiments performed in our free time are unrelated to Titans. I 'd be happy to tell you more about them sometime. Though something tells me you wouldn 't care to hear about such. '

Levi ignored your comment in favor of continuing on with his questioning. 'Was Helfen ever in collaboration with Grisha Jaeger? '

You stilled. Realization washed over you.

Jaeger.

Did the man have a son? Yes, you believed so. You vaguely recalled the physician mentioning having a son shortly after the Shiganshina epidemic. So it wasn 't merely a coincidence of last names then.

Was Dr. Jaeger aware of Eren 's ability then? He had to have been. To think otherwise would be ignorant.

Could that have been the source of all those past arguments between him and Dr. Helfen then? What about their frequent late nights outside of the practice - doing something that always seemed to cause Helfen such stress and anxiety whenever he returned. Then there was Helfen 's strange expression when that Garrison soldier described Eren '

You had always assumed their differences lied in the way they practiced medicine. Were they not seeing eye to eye because of something else?

You remembered a late night many years ago. You were lying in your bed in that little back room of the practice, wide awake. You had tucked yourself into bed hours before but sleep had never come. You had rolled onto your side, watching as your mentor frowned down at the papers in front of him on his desk. He had returned only a half-hour before, the candle on his desk almost completely burned through. His hair had less grey then. He took off his bifocals and rubbed at his tired eyes. It had been another long night spent out with Dr. Jaeger. He let out a long, heavy breath.

He noticed you were awake and smiled tiredly at you. 'Can 't sleep, little bones? '

'Neither can you, big bones, ' you noted back.

'Indeed. So what 's your diagnosis? '

'Stress, ' you promptly answered.

'Treatment? '

You smiled. 'Food. '

He laughed, pushing back his chair and opening one of the drawers of his desk. He pulled out a slab of chocolate wrapped in brown paper. You sat up as he joined you on the edge of your bed, snapping two pieces off and handing you one.

You happily accepted it. Helfen watched as you devoured the piece, his own remained uneaten. His smile turned somber. 'Promise me something, little bones? '

You blinked up at him. 'Mhm? '

'Promise me that when you treat patients, you do it because it 's simply the right thing to do. '

Confusion had flitted across your features. 'Why else would I do it? '

He paused, thinking over his answer. 'Well, there are some physicians out there that would never take a case if it did not also benefit themselves in the process, ' he had answered. You hadn 't understood what he meant at the time.

Levi noticed your expression of realization and pressed further. 'Do you know what they worked on? '

'They worked closely during the time of the Shiganshina epidemic, ' you said. 'Dr. Helfen had allowed me to help collect some of the data from their experiments. I was too young to understand what I was gathering, though. I just followed his instructions. '

'You don 't remember any strange conversations they might have had then? '

You shook your head once. 'No. '

'Did they ever work together after the epidemic? '

You opened your mouth to answer, but then hesitated. You closed it.

It was the wrong thing to do.

Levi pushed off the wall and stalked towards you. For the first time, you felt intimidated being in front of him. He stopped quite close, leaning across the table. His grey eyes were darker than usual. He smelled of clove soap and tea mixed with the silver polish he had used earlier that day. 'Answer me. '

You thought of the way he had beat Eren during his trial. You swallowed, avoiding his gaze. 'Yes. They did. '

'Do you know what they worked on? '

You shook your head again. 'Helfen always kept those cases to himself. Anything he worked on with Grisha Jaeger was performed outside of the practice. '

'Where? '

You didn 't respond.

'

Where

? ' he repeated, his tone a deadly quiet.

'They never strayed outside of Wall Sina, ' you answered. 'When Dr. Jaeger traveled to work in our district, he was always around for a few days; the journey being as long as it was. '

'What was their relationship like? '

'They fought frequently. '

'Why? '

'Differences in opinion, ' was all you answered.

'Which was? '

'I don 't know. '

Levi 's jaw twitched in irritation. 'I don 't believe you. '

You met his stare this time. 'I 'm telling you the truth. When Helfen and Jaeger argued, I always had assumed it was fueled by differences in the way they treated patients, added onto the fact Dr. Jaeger had claimed all the credit for himself with the epidemic. If it had anything to do with Titans or anything else, I am unaware. '

'Was Eren ever discussed between them? '

'If they did, it was never in front of me, ' you replied. You sighed, having quite enough of this interrogation. You stepped away from the table and made to pass him. 'It 's getting late, Captain. We can continue this conversation at another t- '

Levi 's hand snapped out and grabbed your wrist, preventing you from leaving. You kept your gaze forward, your body coiling tightly at his touch.

'What 's in the cellar of Dr. Jaeger 's home? ' he asked quietly, the dark tone in his voice demanding submission and compliance. You immediately took back any previous comments about his stature.

'I don 't know, ' you answered.

'Does Helfen know what 's in the cellar? '

'I don 't know, ' you repeated. You suddenly imagined Helfen being arrested and tortured by the military for information. With loyalty to your mentor, you said, 'I swear to you, we 've no involvement with Titans. You have to believe me. '

Levi sighed and backed off, leaning back against the table and crossing his arms. 'I don 't. Why else would Hange want your old man? '

'Because he 's an excellent physician? ' you replied, annoyance sparking through you. 'I know you work closely with Commander Erwin, Captain, but not everyone has an ulterior motive in this life. Some of us just want to help others, plain and simple. There 's no conspiracy with me or Dr. Helfen. The only people who know what Dr. Jaeger and his son were involved in, are Dr. Jaeger and Eren. And seeing as one of them is now missing, you 've only one option left. '

'Eren doesn 't know, ' Levi said, frustration and irritation evident in his tone.

'Then I guess that 's the answer to your question. You 'll have to go there and find out for yourself. Are we done here now? '

'I suppose we are, ' he said with finality, pushing off the table and heading for the door.

'Have a good night, Captain, ' you said, a bit harsher than you intended.

'Likewise, ' Levi replied as he left without a second glance.